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Newark High School seniors celebrated their graduation last year at White Field.(Photo: Jessica Phelps/The Advocate)

NEWARK - It's the middle of winter, but Ohio lawmakers are feeling the heat as the Feb. 1 deadline looms to make changes to recent expansions of the state's school voucher program.

That is the date students can apply for a taxpayer-funded scholarship for the 2020-2021 school year to attend private schools through EdChoice, which requires a student's public school district to pay $4,600 towards private school tuition for grades K-8, and $6,000 for high school.

The problem is, students at 1,228 public schools from 424 districts, two thirds of the state's school districts, are now eligible. That's up from 476 schools in 137 districts for 2019-20 because of a change in state law. Last year, schools on the eligible list labeled as "underperforming" had to receive a D or F in two categories on the state report card, ranging from graduation rate to third-grade reading skills. This year, it was changed to just one category.

If legislators don't change the law, the increase could cost Ohio's public schools more than $1 billion over the life of the vouchers, according to the Columbus Dispatch.

17 Licking County schools

In Licking County, there was just one school, Lakewood's Jackson Intermediate, on the 2019-20 list. Now there are 17 schools for 2020-21.

They include Newark's high school, Heritage and Wilson middle schools, and McGuffey and Ben Franklin elementary schools. There is Lakewood's high school, middle school and Jackson Intermediate, and Heath's two elementaries (Garfield and Stevenson). There is Central Middle School and West and South elementaries for Licking Heights, along with Johnstown High School, Utica High School, Licking Valley Elementary School and Southwest Licking's Pataskala Elementary.

Local superintendents are upset, not only about being on the list, but the way the report cards are determined. "Very few people believe in the system or the assessments. It's not fair, and not a good judge of how the school is doing," said Newark superintendent Doug Ute. "Why use that system to provide funds to a private school that is not assessed?"

Ute said the high school was docked for its graduation rate. "It used to be in the high 60's and low 70's, but now we're up to over 90 percent," he said. "We've probably improved more than any district in the state. It does not make sense. Our schools are not failing."

Lakewood superintendent Mary Kay Andrews said her district was hit for not being on track to meet the Third Grade Reading Guarantee benchmark, which is supposed to measure the actual percentage of third-grade readers meeting the standard. Jackson Intermediate was at 99 percent in 2019.

"Our elementary schools have been placed on the EdChoice list, and I think it’s a gross misclassification," Heath superintendent Trevor Thomas said. "Garfield is an A rated school, and Stevenson is a C rated school, yet the new law calls them 'failing.' It's absolutely absurd. We are advocating for legislative changes that will appropriately recognize the amazing student growth and achievement that we demonstrate regularly in Heath, and we hope that advocacy does not fall on deaf ears with state and regional leaders."

Local districts lose

The Lakewood Board of Education recently passed a resolution opposing the voucher program and sent it to Ohio lawmakers, the state school superintendent and the governor. It stated that if 20 students from each building (60 total) were to take the voucher, the loss to Lakewood over the next four years would be over $1.2 million. "We figured it would be $51,900 per student we would spend over their career," Andrews said.

"We encourage school choice to every parent," she said. "Choice is a good thing, and it's good to shop around. But it's important for taxpayers to know that under this format, their tax dollars are going to a private school. We're 100 percent accountable on every penny we spend, and if we're held to accountability and transparency, it should be that way across the board. Our money is frozen, while at the same time, they would be taking away from it. They're making school districts pay for this, not the state."

Ute said it could cost the Newark district millions of dollars. He noted that the district passed a similar opposition resolution earlier in the year, as have most Licking County districts. "Even districts who don't have eligible schools are against it," Andrews said.

"We're allowing the money to go to a private system that's selective in their students," Ute said. "We can't be selective. We have different races and income levels, and handicapped students. We don't want to be selective. We are very good at helping students in need."

Vouchers increasing

The number of students using EdChoice vouchers has grown from 23,500 receiving $113 million in 2019, to 30,000 students receiving nearly $149 million in 2020. Some of them are income-based, which was the original plan to help those in poverty and need. EdChoice backers are afraid sudden changes would hurt those relying on the vouchers.

"These parents are fighting to make sure the rug does not get pulled out from under these students at the 11th hour, and cause disruption to their families," Kevin Bacon, president and CEO of School Choice Ohio said in a press release.

"With Ohio's added eligibility list, there is a need for educational options," Bacon added. "Last-minute termination of voucher slots for these families, who are predominantly low income, disabled, minority or struggle in traditional classroom settings, is inherently unfair."

Newark Catholic principal Beth Hill said the high school and two elementaries are trying to familiarize interested people with the voucher options, in conjunction with their open houses on Sunday. The most recent state budget also allows private school students to apply for money, even if they were never enrolled in public school.

"As this relates specifically to Catholic schools, the program affords families the opportunity to consider their children's education in a broader contest, addressing not only academics but the training of their body, mind and spirit to create disciples of Christ," said George Jones, Director of Communications for the Diocese of Columbus.

"While admission requirements and policies may vary from school to school, our Diocese and its parishes will continue to take advantage of those financial resources available, to assist families and students in promoting this mission," Jones added.

Working on a fix

Ohio lawmakers agree that the eligibility list is too long and that a fix is needed. Bill Seitz, a Republican from Green Township, Hamilton County, told the Cincinnati Enquirer a proposed solution involves three changes:

Private school students who never attended a public school would not be eligible for the EdChoice voucher.

As an alternative, lawmakers would make it easier to obtain income-based vouchers by raising eligibility to 400 percent (from 200 percent) of the federal poverty level, or about $100,000 for a family of four. That money would come directly from the state, and not the districts.

Schools would not be labeled as "underperforming" if they received an overall score of A or B on the past two years' report cards. Schools receiving C would be eligible only if they were in the bottom 10 percent of all buildings in the state.

According to the Columbus Dispatch, Sen. Matt Dolan (R-Chagrin Falls) would expand the income eligibility to 250 percent of the poverty threshold, and he would take schools with overall grades of A, B, C or D off the list starting in 2023. Sen. Teresa Fedor (D-Toledo) wants to take schools off the list before Feb. 1, and wants to cap the amount of money that districts have to pay out of pocket, the Dispatch reported.

Fedor talked about pushing the voucher application period back a few weeks, but Republican Senate President Larry Obhof told reporters Wednesday that they will have something ready to go next week, the Dispatch reported. "We're working on it with the House now," Obhof said.

In the meantime, local school districts wait for the outcome. "I believe there will be a fix," Andrews said. "But EdChoice will not be going away."